Dearest Sunaina,
It’s me. Well actually, it’s just you, but from the future. You’ll be delighted to know that you’ve made it to the final year of your 20s and mostly achieved all the things you wanted to when you were a young girl. Unfortunately, making it on to the Forbes 30 under 30 list is not one of them.
Anyway, today is International Girls Day (we have a day for everything in the future), I wanted to write to you all the things that you desperately needed to hear when you were a young girl. Here goes:
You’re not fat. It doesn’t matter how many times Trisha tells you that you are - YOU’RE NOT FAT. You don’t need to starve yourself. I know you don’t want to believe this, but it’s true. You’re going to look back at photos of yourself and wonder what made you crazy enough to think that you were the same size as an orca whale!
Spend more time with your family and be nicer to them - especially your sister, you should really stop telling her she’s adopted. You’re going to miss them when you leave home. You only realise just how much mama and papa (but mostly mama) do for you, after you leave. No one is going to love you more than your family does.
Let go of the anger. You didn’t deserve what happened and it wasn’t your fault. You can’t control how other people act, you’re just a kid.
Stop stressing about what other people think of you- they seldom do. You’re going to read this as a quote at some point in the future and it’s going to make you feel incredibly liberated. Everyone is wrapped up in their own little world, and you should just do whatever you want to do. Write that sketch! Keep playing tennis/basketball!
Hold on to your little brother, Charlie, really tight and never let him go. Just. hold. on.
Lots of unconditional love,
An older and definitely not self-actualised version of you.
Hindsight is a gift. I asked several women - “If you could give advice to your younger self, what would you say?”
Here’s what they had to say: